Cape Perpetua – Not Your Average Engineer

January 15, 2012

On the Coast with Heather

Yesterday Heather and I went on a drive along the coast. We stopped at Cape Perpetua. In spite of the incoming storm, the waves weren’t all that large.

We did get a couple of good splashes but nothing extraordinary.

Up on top of Cape Perpetua looking south.

The hut on top of Cape Perpetua.

Somewhere out there is Japan.

Looking at the mist-shrouded forests inland from the coast.

A little further south on a beach. The guy in the distance was surf fishing.

At North Jetty in Florence where all the divers go.

The visibility was pretty good. If both Heather and I didn’t have colds, we would have gone diving yesterday. There were a few people with DPVs setting up in the parking lot and waiting for high tide.

Further down the jetty looking back up the river.

We didn’t walk further out because of the fierce, cold wind.

April 10, 2011July 1, 2020

Slippery Back Roads and Blown Away on the Coast

Today Carl and I went on a bit of an adventure. The goal was to collect more covered bridges for my covered bridge photo project. We visited Hayden Covered Bridge, Fisher Covered Bridge, North Fork Yachats Covered Bridge, and Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge. There were a few more on our list but the weather was getting ominous and we were pretty beat up from the ride so we called it a day and headed back to Corvallis after only four bridges. Prior to the ride, I consulted several maps of the Central Coast Range to make sure the roads we would be traversing were at least somewhat paved. It turns out that on-the-ground road conditions vary greatly from what is printed in official maps.

Somewhere east of Cape Perpetua. We rode on National Forest Development roads from Fisher to Yachats. While the map said that they were all paved, we found several were only partially paved or otherwise in poor repair. The roads were all covered in forest detritus which made for incredibly slick riding. Many times our front or rear wheels lost traction and began to slide out from under us. By sheer determination, riding skill, and luck we managed to not dump our bikes. The gusting wind didn’t help matters.

Along the way we spied a couple of old vans parked on a side road with several shifty guys moving agricultural equipment. It appears that we spotted the starts of a pot grow. Stay classy, Mexican drug cartels.

At Cape Perpetua we stopped in at Devil’s Churn for a bathroom break and to add extra layers of warmth. The wind was ripping along the coast. It caused us some problems. Within a 100 foot stretch of road, the wind direction could completely reverse three times. Being whipped back and forth is really punishing on the body. I’m surprised I didn’t get whiplash from a few of the more violent gusts that not only sent my bike careening to one side or the other but also snapped my head 90 degrees.

Devil’s Churn was really active with the big storm barreling down on the coast.

April 3, 2011July 1, 2020

Cape Perpetua and the Coast with Kendra and Co.

Yesterday I received a surprise text from Kendra saying she was in town for the Beaver Freezer Triathlon. She and two of her work mates had driven out from Tri Cities to compete in the event. One thing led to another and we ended up on the coast, checking out Cape Perpetua.

Before we went to Cape Perpetua, we stopped in Newport at the old light house on the north side of the bridge. North and South jetties were pretty rough. I doubt anyone was going over the Newport bar yesterday.